Contrasting Approaches to Language, Meaning, and Knowledge in Advaita Vedanta and the Western Literary Traditions
Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities August 14, 2023 Aayushee Garg 1 citation
Indian and Western literary theories differ fundamentally in their approaches to language and meaning. Western tradition treats literary works as objects for analysis and critique, focusing on interpreting textual meaning. In contrast, Indian tradition, particularly Advaita Vedanta, views concepts and ideas within texts as indirect indicators of reality and self-realization. Advaita Vedanta emphasizes direct experience (anubhava) over transmitted knowledge and acknowledges that the true essence of the self transcends human comprehension. The article examines the paradoxical and contradictory language found in classical Indian texts to uncover the methodology of meaning construction within Advaita Vedanta, contrasting this with Western literary theory's empirical grounding.